The First 20 Minutes of ‘Homeland’ Season 2 Are Jam Packed with Action

There are trailers and then there are trailers. Not happy to just give you just a flimsy preview of the second season of TV’s twistiest show, Showtime has released the first 20 minutes of the Season 2 premiere of Homeland for your viewing pleasure. Yes, it’s for free! Just look below! Considering each episode is only about 50 minutes long, that is basically half of the entire first episode. That’s like going to McDonald’s and getting 20 fries, half a hamburger, and an already opened toy for free. Who needs the Happy Meal?

This clip does all the heavy lifting for what we can expect in the upcoming season and gets all the exposition out of the way so that when the show premieres on September 30, instead we can focus on the twists, Claire Danes’ hair (it’s so shiny!), and just how the hell Mandy Patinkin gets his beard so fluffy. My biggest concern with the second season is how they’re going to make it as believable as the first one (after all, this show is run by the team behind 24 and their second season had Kim being attacked by a mountain lion, so we have reasons to be afraid).

As for getting Carrie Mathison back in the fold it all happens quite easily. After Israel bombs nuclear targets in Iran, a former asset approaches Carrie’s old boss Saul in Beirut and says she has information. But she’ll only talk to Carrie. That means the CIA has to go crawling back and ask for her help. Carrie is out of the hospital and doing well as an ESL teacher to a room full of Arabic speakers. She tends her garden and tries to avoid stress, including the CIA. Just as hard as she fought to stay in the bureau last season she’s fighting to stay out of it this time around.

Brody’s political assent, however, isn’t as believable. He’s now a Congressman; the Vice President, who is contemplating a presidential run, is considering Brody for his old job. Meanwhile, he’s still living in the crappy tract house in Maryland even though his family is trying to climb the Washington social hierarchy with new friends, fancy schools for the kids, and new designer suits instead of dusty old military uniforms. It just all seems a little, well, much.

But based on what Showtime has shown us so far, this looks like it’s going to be another blockbuster year. Now September 30 needs to hurry up and get here so I can fast forward through the first 20 minutes and get to all the cliffhangers!